OCR General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Biology Practice Exam

Which type of cell undergoes meiosis?

1. Somatic cells

2. Gametes

3. Skeletal cells

4. Stem cells

The correct answer is: Gametes

The type of cell that undergoes meiosis is gametes. Meiosis is a specialized form of cell division that reduces the chromosome number by half, resulting in four genetically diverse daughter cells. This process is critical for sexual reproduction as it produces gametes—sperm in males and ova (eggs) in females. Each gamete carries only one set of chromosomes, which is crucial for maintaining the species' chromosome number when fertilization occurs, as the fusion of two gametes restores the diploid state. Somatic cells undergo mitosis, which is the process for cell division that results in two identical daughter cells with the same chromosome number as the parent cell, but do not participate in meiosis. Skeletal cells, like other somatic cells, also do not undergo meiosis but instead replicate their DNA through mitosis. Stem cells can undergo both mitosis and meiosis depending on their type and the specific developmental pathway they follow, but generally, in the context of producing gametes, it is the gametes themselves that directly arise from meiosis.